Race Relations in the US Exam 1

What is racism

The idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical behaviors

When and where did the idea of race and biology begin

18th century taxonomies of European/Christian scientist who viewed the world as fixed. It really came about 15/16 century

What happened during Christian expansionism

They rationalized this expansion through religious means

How were people separated during Christian expansionism

At first ‘believers’ and ‘nonbelievers’. It was easy to rationalize harming and enslaving people who were ‘enemies’ but what happened is people would convert. That’s when racial categories began to develop

What is racial science

Belief that the human species can be subdivided into biologically distinct taxa called “races”

Who was Immanuel Kant

He created 4 groups of people. 3 of which are inferior due to a lack of intellect and only Europeans were capable of self improvement and therefore are superior

Who were Galton and Pearson

Founders of modern day statistics

Who were Liennaus and Blumenbach

They were the most influential racial scientists.. Much of what is used today came from them!

What did Carl Linnaeus create

He created the classification system

What is the classification system Linnaeus created

A system which prioritized skin color as the most distinguishing trait (4 categories)

What were some of the issues with Linnaeus’ system

Most visible genetic traits are continuous traits not discrete ones s how do you cut something that is infinite

What did Blumenbach create

He took Linnaeus’ system and added one more row to it

What are Blumenbach’s 5 categories

• American Indian

• Mongolian

• Negro (Ethiopian)

• Malay

• Caucasian

What are the significant genetic variations in humans?

Genes contribute 2% to our overall DNA, so they don’t really make us ‘who we are’

What is the main idea from the Race Science

Most variability exists in our DNA. Maybe we can find the ‘race gene’ in DNA to prove that biologically humans are different race in this way

How has race science been disproved

There is no such thing as a race gene. Most genes are polygenetic - linked several genes with multiple genotypes and a continuous array of phenotypes

In the 1940s what were white people’s racial attitudes

Majority of people supported segregation and held very stereotypical views of black people

In the 1970s what were white people’s racial attitudes

Less than 25%+ of White people openly stated that school should be racially separated

What were some of the issues with peoples attitudes

There was a mismatch between their attitudes and their actions. Ex. when asked if they would live in a neighborhood with POC

What sparked the shift between the 40s and the 70s

The Civil Rights Movement - Jim Crow era

What were the 4 theories on the shift in attitudes

• racial optimists

• racial pesoptimists

• symbolic racisms

• sense of group

What is racial pesoptimist

• mixture of tolerance and intolerance

• they would support the ideas of better race relations IN THEORY but are resistant to policy changes

• it suggests that white people’s new racial attitudes reflect both their racial progress and resistence to it

What is the problem with racial pesoptimist

This means people’s attitudes haven’t really changed

What is symbolic racism

• a new form of prejudice, one preoccupied with atter of moral character, informed by the transition of individualism

What is the problem with symbolic racism

It is missing a materially based explanation for why these changes occur

What is racism according to Bonilla-Silva

• racism has materialist foundations

• races in racialized societies receive substantially different rewards

• therefore, actors in a racialized system develop a set of social practices and an ideology to justify the current race order

What is Bonilla-Silva’s definition of Race

a social construct, meaning notions of racial difference are human creations, that have a history and are subject to change

What is Racial Structure according to Bonilla-Silva

The totality of social relations and practices that reinforce white privilege

What is Bonilla-Silva’s definition of Racial Ideology

Racially based frameworks used by actors to explain and justify (dominant race) or challenge (subordinate race) the racial status quo

What is colorblind racism

The new racial ideology that explains contemporary racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics in society

What is systemic racism

Societies where social, political, economic, cultural, psychological rewards are partially allocated along racial lines